I see so much false thinking amongst almost every Gentile people group throughout the entire world, and even amongst many liberal/non-religious Jews (especially in the Diaspora) regarding the reality of the State of Israel today.

The mass media has been hugely successful in falsely portraying Israel as a demonic bully in its relationship with its Arab neighbours, and as a usurper of the affections of God. The mass media and the great majority of advocacy groups from almost every political and religious persuasion has done a brilliant job is painting Israel as an aggressive ‘occupier’ and serious blight on world’s hopes and dreams for peace in the Middle East and around the globe.

What perhaps most saddens me is that this evil propaganda campaign has been so successful that even many ‘Christian’ Messianic groups and individuals have been duped into believing these false reports.

There are a number of great organisations such as Honest Reporting (www.honestreporting.com) that work tirelessly to try to counteract the incredibly false message about Israel that dominates the mass media and social media networks around the world.

However, I think that some serious factual background information about the historical, political, theological and social events that have brought us to the present reality of the State of Israel are needed before such Israel advocacy voices such as Honest Reporting can be properly appreciated.

In this regard I believe that there are two vital books that give such background evidence. They are ‘Should Israel Exist’ by Prof. Michael Curtis, and ‘A History of the Jews’ by the historian Paul Johnson.

Both of these books are brilliant and very powerful narratives that document so much of the relevant information to give the open minded ‘truth seeker’ the comprehensive grounding needed to make proper sense of the events of the present time.

In ‘Should Israel Exist’ Prof. Michael Curtis addresses the recent political and historical events that lead to the formation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent wars and political events that have been waged to try to reverse the miracle of 1948. He very clearly and effectively analyses the legal, ethical and moral perspectives surrounding these events and the existence of the State of Israel in the historic Land of Israel.

Historian Prof. Paul Johnson’s book is a lot more detailed and comprehensive as it traces the complete history of the Jewish people. While Johnson is not Jewish (he is a Roman Catholic), his ability to faithfully and accurately portray the Jewish people through their long chequered history is amazing, both in its detail, and in its real empathy and appreciation for this miraculous people of God.

For a very short but inspirational video that starts down this path to proper enlightenment I strongly recommend Inside Israel – How A Small Nation Makes A Big Difference’ – see http://www.israelinsidethemovie.com/

‘Inside Israel’ looks at why Israelites have been so amazingly successful in so many areas of human endeavour and why the Nation of Israel continues it’s miraculous development as one of the greatest and most successful countries on the planet.

In this movie Dr Tal Ben-Shahar outlines the 6 main principles that he sees as foundational to this success. These principles are  all derived from the Sh’ma (Shema – Deut 6:4-9; 11:12-22 & Num 15:37-42), which is perhaps the most important foundational portion of the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures) for the Jewish people.

I have travelled to Israel twice and on my second trip spent three weeks travelling the whole country. I have seen first hand both the daily miracles that the Almighty blesses Israel with, as well as the amazing way that the Jewish people go overboard (in fact, perhaps to an unhelpful extreme) to be more than equitable, to be more than fair to all within their borders and without. I believe that the Israeli people are the greatest example in the world of a people who heed Yeshua’s call to ‘turn the other cheek’.

I would most strongly encourage everyone, whatever your current understanding and persuasion regarding the State of Israel to read the two books by Prof Curtis and Prof Johnson that I have listed above.

After reading these books; even after reading only Prof Curtis’ book, I am convinced that most will then see the falsehood of the message that is painted by the great majority of news outlets and social media posts.